COOKEVILLE – Cookeville Regional Medical Center was among a select group of hospitals nationwide recognized for promoting enrollment in state organ donor registries in a national campaign sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Cookeville Regional achieved silver status and was one of 13 Tennessee hospitals that achieved any status. Only three Tennessee hospitals that were designated as small or rural by the American Hospital Association achieved a status.
Cookeville Regional conducted awareness and registry campaigns to educate staff, patients, visitors and community members about the critical need for organ, eye and tissue donors and, by doing so, was awarded silver status through the HRSA Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital Campaign.
“We are pleased that Cookeville Regional reached silver status in 2018,” said Scott Lethi, chief nursing officer at Cookeville Regional. “We feel it is important to support and promote organ, eye and tissue donation here at the medical center. These donations have a deep impact on families who’s loved one needs the donation, and by us working to educate and raise awareness we are doing a small part in something that can change one person’s life.”
Currently over 114,000 are on the national organ transplant list, 3,018 are Tennesseans*. One donation can save eight lives and enhance up to 50 lives.
On a national level, of the 1,283 hospitals and transplant centers participating in the campaign, Cookeville Regional is one of 360 silver award recipients awarded. The Workplace Partnership for Life Hospital campaign has added more than 443,000 donor enrollments to state registries nationwide.
See the full list of hospital associations and hospitals recognized at https://www.organdonor.gov/awareness/workplace/hospital.html.
* Based on OPTN data as of December 13, 2018
